Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley has posted his National Volunteer Week video tribute to emergency volunteers on YouTube – you can see it here.
There are close to 100,000 emergency volunteers in Victoria, including 60,000 CFA volunteers.
Here are some CFA volunteer facts and figures:
- There are nearly 60,000 CFA volunteers in more than 1,200 Brigades statewide
- Emergency volunteering is a professional field, with volunteers trained to nationally recognised standards, and CFA Brigades protecting 60% of suburban Melbourne, regional cities and country Victoria, every day and night of the year
- CFA Brigades deal with all manner of emergencies all year round, including house fires, industrial fires, road accidents, floods, chemical spills and rescues, as well as the bushfires of summer
- There are approximately 10,000 CFA volunteers in the outer suburbs of Melbourne
- The CFA’s volunteer firefighters are emergency services professionals with nationally recognised qualifications, working to the same response standards as paid firefighters
- There are also thousands of non-operational CFA volunteers, performing vital support roles, handling equipment maintenance, fundraising, administration and community education
- CFA volunteers are more than 90% of the state’s fire fighting force and 97% of CFA. The great capacity of the volunteer system allows CFA Brigades to provide thousands of trained, experienced firefighters to combat bushfires and other emergencies such as floods, while still providing round-the-clock protection to their own communities
- CFA Brigades protect 3.3 million Victorians and one million dwellings every day and night of the year.
